Ascension Columbia Saint Mary's Milwaukee at Water Tower Medical Commons

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. A delivery driver parked his truck near the medical center’s water tower one afternoon and noticed something odd in the backseat—a small wooden box wrapped in old newspaper. Curious, he opened it to find an ancient-looking key with no label or explanation. The delivery driver shrugged, stuck the key on his fridge next to a magnet of Milwaukee’s tallest building, then forgot about it. Months later, while unpacking boxes after moving into a new apartment, his curious neighbor asked what the strange key was for. With a laugh, the driver admitted the story—and realized the key unlocked nothing more exotic than his own storage locker filled with old pizza boxes.

2. In the late afternoon, a little girl playing nearby noticed something odd. As she watched, a nurse exiting the clinic’s entrance seemed to float a few inches above the ground for just a second before disappearing back into normal view. Curious, she told her mom who shrugged it off until an old delivery driver mentioned seeing the same thing earlier that day. Soon, everyone in the neighborhood was watching the clinic entrance, waiting for another floating nurse sighting. When none came, they realized it must’ve been just a trick of the light—until a neighbor confessed he’d been practicing his new levitation app on his phone while leaving work.

3. In the early morning hours, a delivery driver parked his truck near the medical center’s water tower. Suddenly, he heard an eerie humming sound coming from inside the building. Curious but cautious, he approached the entrance and peered through the window—only to see rows of old-fashioned clocks ticking in perfect sync. As he watched, one clock struck twelve exactly, and all the others followed suit like well-trained soldiers. Startled, our delivery driver quickly turned around—and found himself facing a sleepy-eyed security guard asking, ‘Did you forget to set your alarm again?’

4. At nightfall, a security guard patrolling the medical complex heard an eerie humming coming from inside the water tower. Curious, he approached and noticed that the sound was coming from an old radio left behind in the maintenance room. Inside, he found an elderly volunteer, dozing off while listening to his favorite jazz station. The next morning, everyone joked that maybe the old man had ascended to the heavens via FM waves.